For almost 40 years, Congress has enacted Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) type laws to help guide both Democratic and Republican Presidents in pursuing trade agreements that support U.S. jobs, eliminate barriers to U.S. exports, and set rules to level the playing field for U.S. companies, farmers, and workers. In these laws, Congress has set high-standard objectives and priorities for U.S. trade negotiators and established a process for consulting with Congress and the public.
The United States currently has free trade agreements with 20 partners which support 47 percent of total goods exports. The regional trade agreements currently under negotiation – Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) – accounted for 62 percent of U.S. goods exports in 2014, and supported an estimated 4.2 million U.S. jobs in 2013. Over fifty countries are negotiating a separate agreement focused on opening markets to trade in services, which would create significant new opportunities for U.S. services firms. TPA will allow these agreements to become a reality, spurring economic growth in the United States and our trading partners.